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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Review originally posted on my blog: http://killie-booktalk.blogspot.com/
“Plague” by Michael Grant is the 4th Book in the Gone series and this is the first book in this series that I am going to write a review for. I have to admit that I was desperate to read this book as I have found all the previous Gone books to some of the best dark, dystopian novels available to read. I am always surprised that I actually don’t see them being discussed on many other blogs, in my opinion they deserve all the accolades they can get.
This book basically follows on from the previous one in the series, the teenagers and children are still trapped inside a impenetrable bubble, cut off from their parents and the overall outside world. So far many of children have survived all that has been thrown at them, from an evil creature known as the Darkness, to hunger, sickness and in fighting. It now seems like things are going to get better as the Darkness is sealed in a mine, whip handed Drake is imprisoned, Caine and Diana are exiled to an island and the violent “Human Crew” have been dispersed. However, as always, things won’t go right for the kids, Sam and Astrid’s relationship is in trouble, the entire community is running out of water and a fatal flu is now spreading throughout the population. In addition, the Darkness is trying to escape and is calling new and more dangerous servants to it’s cause.
I loved this book, I think it has to be the darkest of the novels so far with the brutality of life now really testing the core principles of all the characters. There is also a lot of different things going on, but it is told in a speedy fast paced manner that brings the whole thing together in really interesting finish. As always the author manages to capture the characters brilliantly, with them still acting as teenagers such as drinking, grappling with themselves and each other and of course thinking about sex even as they try and just survive the dangers being thrown at them.
There some new things introduced to us that we haven’t seen before which is nice. For example there is a new character called Toto who seems to have been used to add a little bit of humour into the story as he has the ability to tell if someone is telling the truth. This a good foil to the real feeling of tension, danger and fear that infuse the majority of the story. We also get to see a new part of the area surrounded by the bubble and witness some of the main characters seemingly being at real risk of death.
In summary, I really enjoyed this book and think anyone who has been following the series will love this. The book had adventure, horror, emotion and drama all mixed together in a very dark and brutal manner that really packed a punch. In addition we actually get to see some real growth in the characters and find out some real clues about a bigger picture regarding the powers that some of the children have developed.
Now that I have finished “Plague” I am desperately awaiting the penultimate book in the series titled “Fear”.
“Plague” by Michael Grant is the 4th Book in the Gone series and this is the first book in this series that I am going to write a review for. I have to admit that I was desperate to read this book as I have found all the previous Gone books to some of the best dark, dystopian novels available to read. I am always surprised that I actually don’t see them being discussed on many other blogs, in my opinion they deserve all the accolades they can get.
This book basically follows on from the previous one in the series, the teenagers and children are still trapped inside a impenetrable bubble, cut off from their parents and the overall outside world. So far many of children have survived all that has been thrown at them, from an evil creature known as the Darkness, to hunger, sickness and in fighting. It now seems like things are going to get better as the Darkness is sealed in a mine, whip handed Drake is imprisoned, Caine and Diana are exiled to an island and the violent “Human Crew” have been dispersed. However, as always, things won’t go right for the kids, Sam and Astrid’s relationship is in trouble, the entire community is running out of water and a fatal flu is now spreading throughout the population. In addition, the Darkness is trying to escape and is calling new and more dangerous servants to it’s cause.
I loved this book, I think it has to be the darkest of the novels so far with the brutality of life now really testing the core principles of all the characters. There is also a lot of different things going on, but it is told in a speedy fast paced manner that brings the whole thing together in really interesting finish. As always the author manages to capture the characters brilliantly, with them still acting as teenagers such as drinking, grappling with themselves and each other and of course thinking about sex even as they try and just survive the dangers being thrown at them.
There some new things introduced to us that we haven’t seen before which is nice. For example there is a new character called Toto who seems to have been used to add a little bit of humour into the story as he has the ability to tell if someone is telling the truth. This a good foil to the real feeling of tension, danger and fear that infuse the majority of the story. We also get to see a new part of the area surrounded by the bubble and witness some of the main characters seemingly being at real risk of death.
In summary, I really enjoyed this book and think anyone who has been following the series will love this. The book had adventure, horror, emotion and drama all mixed together in a very dark and brutal manner that really packed a punch. In addition we actually get to see some real growth in the characters and find out some real clues about a bigger picture regarding the powers that some of the children have developed.
Now that I have finished “Plague” I am desperately awaiting the penultimate book in the series titled “Fear”.
Jack came running like he was expecting trouble. A grinning Sam held a can [of Pepsi] out for him.
“Is that . . . ?”
“It is,” Sam assured him.
Crack psst!
Burp.
Jack started crying then, sobbing and drinking and burping and laughing.
“You going crazy on us, Jack?” Dekka asked.
“It’s just . . .” He couldn’t seem to find the words.
Sam put his arm around Jack’s shoulders. “Yeah, dude. It’s too much, isn’t it? I mean too much like the world before.”
“I eat rats,” Jack said through his tears.
“We all eat rats,” Dekka said. “And glad to get a good juicy one, too.”
This quote cracks me up in its black humour, but it's also representative of this series as a whole and the bleak toll that survival is taking on these kids.
Anyway, onto the review: Hello, nightmare fuel, my old friend!
I'd forgotten how absolutely fucking horrifying these books are; they would be rated R if they were movies. I took an eight-month break from this series and was a little worried that the second half wouldn't be quite as good (not every author can sustain that sort of pace), but good lord, I should never have doubted. Love them as I do, I haven't been able to give previous installments of the Gone series five stars -- but considering that this kept me riveted for 500+ pages so that I finished it in A SINGLE DAY, this one's gotta have it.
The stakes are so high that I existed in constant white-knuckled anxiety, and had to keep reading scene after scene after chapter just because I needed to find out what happens next. More than ever, I'm still reminded of [b:Under the Dome|6320534|Under the Dome|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1268982908s/6320534.jpg|6760952] when reading this series, due to the unrelenting, grueling pace and how Grant presses the pedal to the metal. If anything, Plague might be a bit too action-heavy, but there's still time for introspective character moments and character development (most of it painful!) along the way. And after the sedate pace of [b:Lies|6686092|Lies (Gone, #3)|Michael Grant|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1257814886s/6686092.jpg|6881422], I actually welcomed this high-octane thrill ride. It was unpredictable, and I never knew where it was going to go. I was glued to my book for hours upon hours, only emerging in a hollow daze this morning.
I don't really want to give away what happens in Plague, but I'll just say that this is straight-up the most dire the kids' situation has ever been, as they're beset by three different dangers simultaneously, all of them life-threatening. It builds to a fever pitch, and characters are pushed to their utmost lengths in an attempt to cope. Stand-outs are Dekka (good lord), Brianna (she is an actual honest-to-god superheroine), Caine and Diana (I will never stop loving them), Lana and Sanjit and Virtue and Dahra... and even Astrid, who I've been ambivalent about before -- her development here is fascinating.
Highly, highly, highly recommended.
One of the only things that has given me pause is Michael Grant's take on religion; it's a little worrisome that the two most pious characters are either nutty, or having trouble with their faith, or having their faith actively corrupted against them. But I think he sorts out his message towards the end of the book, and that it's more about when religious extremists & terrorists use their faith to justify terrible acts, and faith has been twisted to suit human ends:
“God decides right and wrong.”
“No,” Astrid said. And now, despite everything, despite her own exhaustion, despite her fear, despite her self-loathing and contempt, she realized she was going to say something she had never accepted before. “Brittney, it was wrong to murder even before Moses brought down the commandments. Right and wrong doesn’t come from God. It’s inside us. And we know it. And even if God appears right in front of us, and tells us to our faces to murder, it’s still wrong.”
It was that simple in the end, Astrid realized. That simple.
As Davos Seaworth wept in Game of Thrones, a gutwrenching scene that punched me in the heart with its simplicity: If your god commands you to kill children, then he is evil.
Also, the relationship between the brothers remains one of my favourite things:
“We can fight!” someone yelled. “We beat the coyotes. And we beat you, too, Caine!”
“How will you fight without Sam?” Caine demanded. “Is he here? No! Sam can’t stop these creatures. He tried, and he failed, and now he has run away!”
He waited for someone to speak up in defense of Sam. But not a word. Gutless, faithless weaklings, Caine thought. He was almost sorry for Sam. How many times had Sam put himself in harm’s way for these ingrates?
Caine's arc remains fascinating, too, and I can't wait to see where he goes next. (I'm still rooting for a long-term redemption. Don't crush my hopes, Grant!)
I think I've run out of things to say, at least until my head clears later. But cripes, this YA series is so good, and I am so looking forward to reading the last two books. Hopefully Grant can stick the landing.
I'm trying out Goodreads' Kindle highlights sync for the first time ever, so hopefully you can access my spoilery and non-spoilery quotes in this review! I'm grateful for this feature, because god, I have had to spend so many hours typing up quotes from my Kindle or C&Ping and tidying them up, and often running out of review space as a result.
They've survived hunger. They've survived lies. But the stakes keep rising, and the dystopian horror keeps building. Yet despite the simmering unrest left behind by so many battles, power struggles, and angry divides, there is a momentary calm in Perdido Beach. But enemies in the FAYZ don't just fade away, and in the quiet, deadly things are stirring, mutating, and finding their way free. The Darkness has found its way into the mind of its Nemesis at last and is controlling it through a haze of delirium and confusion. A highly contagious, fatal illness spreads at an alarming rate. Sinister, predatory insects terrorize Perdido Beach. And Sam, Astrid, Diana, and Caine are plagued by a growing doubt that they'll escape - or even survive - life in the FAYZ. With so much turmoil surrounding them, what desperate choices will they make when it comes to saving themselves and those they love? I enjoyed this book a lot, the bug creatures were horrific and terrifying in the best way. I loved the action scenes and the discovery of the lake, I'm really excited to see how things go after the split between Caine and Sam. Characters do get to grow in this entry too, gone are the days when the characters are stuck in their roles complaining but not doing anything about it. This takes place a little while after the last book, and a lot of things have changed. Sam has given up all leadership, Astrid is finally beginning to crack, some minor characters get a bit of comeuppance, things definitely go down in this entry, and it never really lets up either. The brutality really levels up in this entry of the series, and I love it for that. All the books after this are just as dark and brutal, and I love that they all deepen the lore and world-building.
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was the first Gone book that actually made my skin crawl while reading it. The others, they had some weird stuff going on, but this one...yeah, I don't even know where to begin. Yes, I do actually. Bugs. Coughing up internal organs. *shudder* But my horror kept me reading and I finished it in a few days, faster than I finished any of the other three.
Just a word of advice: don't read this while eating. Trust me.
Appetite=Gone (haha, see what I did there?)
Just a word of advice: don't read this while eating. Trust me.
Appetite=Gone (haha, see what I did there?)
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another amazing book in this incredible series! I say this every time but each time you think "it can't possibly get any worse for the kids of Perdido Beach" it absolutely does get massively worse. Like the rest of the series, this book will keep you wanting to read more and more with the non-stop action, mystery and suspense! The character writing and development is also top tier, as it explored deeply the minds of kids going through one horror onto the next. I really appreciate the foreshadowing that's always sprinkled in as well for things to come. My one negative takeaway would be the constant, weird commentary on God. A few of the characters believe in God or acknowledge the existence of a God but their beliefs get twisted or questioned in ways where I feel it's the author's actual thoughts on God vs what these characters would be thinking instead. Other than that, I truly believe this series is a must read but not for the faint of heart!
I just think book 3 and 4 should have been either one book, or drastically shorter. A lot of unimportant things happen or maybe not unimportant, but uninteresting. All in all, it's very drawn - out.
Also, at this point It doesn't feel like any of the characters are really in danger, because nobody ever dies, no matter how grim its looking for them.
It's still able to hold quite a good amount of tension and the last third I will admit, I read in one sitting because I really wanted to know how It ends.
If it was a standalone, it'd be 2 stars, as the fourth book of a series its three, as it's way better then a lot of people 'middle books', just not that great (idk, I hope this makes sense to someone)
Also, at this point It doesn't feel like any of the characters are really in danger, because nobody ever dies, no matter how grim its looking for them.
It's still able to hold quite a good amount of tension and the last third I will admit, I read in one sitting because I really wanted to know how It ends.
If it was a standalone, it'd be 2 stars, as the fourth book of a series its three, as it's way better then a lot of people 'middle books', just not that great (idk, I hope this makes sense to someone)